Jason arrived at the shop 5 minutes before 7 o'clock. He got out of his car and walked up to the door. Just as he was about to ring the bell the door opened to reveal Erin in a black hoodie with a green shirt underneath and a pair of dark blue jeans as well as black shoes. Her hair was up in a pony tail and she was smiling up at him.

"Ready to go?" He asked smiling down at her.

"Yup. Tom all ready left to go get Katie. So where are we going?" Erin asked as they got into the Impala.

"It's a surprise." Jason said with a smile.

He started it up and they were off down t he road.

Meanwhile...

Tom parked in front of the house and was about to knock on the door just as Katie opened it. She was wearing black hip-hugging jeans with a purple skirt over them, a black belly shirt with a skull on it, black combat boots, black spiked wrist bands, a black spiked choker, and white gold skull earrings. She also had on a black baseball cap with a Chevy bowtie and the Mitsubishi diamond star holding hands with her ponytail sticking out the back hole of the cap.

Tom, meanwhile, wore black jeans, his regular hiking boots and a marroon colored dress shirt... along with his almost 5 necklaces (a gold chain with a cross, one with a skull on it, a wooden round one, and one with a tribal leaf on it)

She grabbed his hand and dragged him to his black 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Z34.

"Come on! Let's go! So, where're we going?"

"Uh... That new restaurant that opened up on Pershing drive"

They got in the car and Tom started up the potent V6. The car roared to life as he turned the key. The radio turned on and played "Kiss The Girl" by No Secrets.

Tom blushed as they drove off.

Jason stopped in front of a little old diner and got out with Erin following him.

"A diner? Cute. Odd, but cute." Erin said with a small smile.

"It may not look like much but it has the best food I have ever had." Jason said holding the door open for her.

Erin knew he was being sweet but if he did this through out the night she was going to get annoyed.

They sat down at a booth a started talking. "So how long have you been working on cars?" Jason asked.

"A few years now. Before school I worked on a few cors with my father and I already told you about After school." Erin said with a giggle. "What about you? What do you like to do mostly?"

"Not very much interesting like working on cars. I did a little racing but no one knows about it. I stopped after about a year and went on to paint and draw. I'm not all that good but it pays a few bills. Besides painting I dapple in a few things like writing or playing a sport like Basketball. Mostly just for excercise.

A waitress came up to them gave them their menu's and walked off.

"So what do you do for fun?" Jason asked as he looked over the menu.

"Besides work on cars? I read and play a few sports. Nothing that much. I don't have a lot of free time. With running the shop and all. It keeps me busy." The Waitress came back took their ordes and walked away again.

Erin and Jason talked for quite some time till it was time to leave.

"So now where are we going? It's only 9." Erin said buckling up.

"That's a secret. Ware this." Jason handed her a blind fold and reluctently she put it on.

Once he was sure she couldn't see he drove off to the secret place.

Tom drove and the ended up at the restaurant Tom mentioned, "Frankie's Grill" (A/N: not the horrible "Frankie's" fast food place... bleh!) They got out of the car and walked to the restaurant. Tom reached for the door handle of the restaurant, but stopped when Katie spoke.

"Don't even think about it! I can get the door on my own!"

"Yes ma'am!" Tom joked as he saluted her.

"You're funny" She stated as she giggled and got the door for them.

"HI! Welcome to Frankie's Grill! Table for two?" The hostess greeted with a smile

"Yes."

"Right this way" She said as she led them to a table for two with candle light already set up

"Wow... uh... romantic..." was all Katie managed to get out before she sat down

The hostess left them their menus and left.

"So... what do you do for hobbies? besides racing and working on cars."

"I like to write stories, they're not that good though. An whenever I have a chance, I join an animal rights protest or EV rally."

"What's an EV rally?"

"Where people gather together and rally to get EV's or Electric Vehicles, cars, boat, and such, BACK on the streets where they belong."

"Back on the road? You mean they were on the road before?"

"Yeah. Back in 1990, CARB (California Air Resources Board) put into effect the ZEV mandate or Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate which forced automakers to make cars that produced no exhaust on the road between 1996 and 2003. The most popular of the EV's was the sporty GM, General Motors, EV1. As soon as the mandate was repealed in 2003, the cars were taken back by the automakers and destroyed." (A/N: COMPLETELY TRUE! pick up a copy of the documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car?" if you don't believe me!)

Their waitress came and picked up their orders.

"Wait... they were all taken back? Isn't that illegal?"

"Usually yes, but the cars weren't allowed to be sold, only leased. when a car is leased, the company still owns it. You just make payments so they let you keep it. The people who leased the EV's were willing to keep paying to use the car but the automakers wouldn't let them re-lease the car. Only a few of them were actually sold so only a few are still on the road."

"Which ones are still on the road?"

"A few Toyota Rav4 EV's, a few Ford Ranger EV's, and about fifty Chevrolet S10 EV's... two pick-up truck variants and a small suv... They run about 40,000 each now..."

The waitress came back with their orders as they ate their food in silence. Tom looked out the window and saw Jason and Erin across the street getting back into the Impala... and Erin was blindfolded.

"What is your brother doing with her blindfolded?"

Katie knew Tom was going to do something reckless...

Jason drove off with a blindfolded Erin in the front seat.

"Jason. Where are we going?" Erin asked in a somewhat whinny voice. She wasn't one to be patient when she was blindfolded.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to take you anywhere you wont like." Jason said in a reasuring voice.

"Alright." Erin said reluctantly.

Twenty minutes later Jason stopped the car and put it in park. "Alright, you can take it off now."

Erin untied the blindfold and looked out in awe. It was the most beautiful thing she ever saw. He had taken her to a small lake with the full moon shining down onto it. There were all kinds of trees and a willow right next to the lake with a blanket out under it.

"You set this all up?" Erin asked still in awe.

"Yup. Come on lets go sit under the willow tree."

They got out of the car and went and sat down under the willow.

They didn't really say anything for a while, just looked out at the veiw and enjoyed eachothers company. Jason glanced over at Erin with a smile. "You look lovely tonight. You know that?"

"Thanks. You look nice yourself. How did you find this place?" Erin hadn't found this place and she had been all over town and outside town. Or atleast she thought so.

"I went walking around one day and I found this place down a dirt road. Thought you might like it." Jason said smiling down at her.

His staring was making her blush. She looked away shyly smiling. He gently turned her head tord him. His smile widening as he looked into her eyes. Slowly their faces came closer together.

They were about to kiss when she noticed familiar headlights on the other side of the lake... and the unique engine rev of Tom's 3.4L DOHC V6.

"Shit."

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"He followed us"

Jason looked and noticed Tom's Chevy hiding on the other side of the lake. He got up and started to walk towards Tom's Chevy. He couldn't see inside the Chevy but he knew Tom was there.

The high beams flashed, blinding Jason in the cars path. By the time Jason regained his sight, Tom's Chevy was gone... but the tire tracks weren't. Jason marched back to Erin.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"You think I'm gonna let him ruin our date? I'm going after him."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

"Why's that?"

"Tom may have the underpowered car here, but he's one of the best drivers I've ever seen. He's pulled stunts in that Front Wheel Drive Monte Carlo I thought impossible."

"That still doesn't give him the right to spy on us."

"Fine, I'll come but be careful... He knows what he's doing"

They got in the Impala and went back down the dirt road... only to come bumper to bumper with Tom's Monte Carlo when they got out. The black Z34 reversed and swung the front end around before leaving in a cloud of tire smoke.

"He's chicken."

"No... He isn't. He wants us to follow him"

Tom led them to a red light and Jason pulled up beside him. They rolled down the windows so Tom could explain the rules.

"Down the end of the road then turn left, follow it to the traincross. After the train cross is a sharp right hand turn follow it over the bridge. First on to the store at the end of the block wins. I win you do things the way I say. Got it!"

"And if I win?" Jason asked with a grin.

"If by some slim chance you do beat me. Then you can date Erin and I won't say a word about it, but if you brake her heart a brake your neck. That will always stand. Got it!" Tom said glaring him down.

"Deal! On Green we go." Jason said rolling up his window.

"Jason. I sure hope you know what your doing. No one has beat Tom in all the time I've known him. Just be careful." Erin said putting her seatbelt on. She glared at Tom for a second when Jason and Katie wern't looking and then sat back waiting for the fun to begin.

The light turned green as the two Front wheel drive cars leapt off. Jason thought he had the race in the bag... He had 30 more horsepower than Tom's DOHC 3.4 and he had a supercharger. Tom, however, had less weight to haul around with his 2 door coupe.

Jason had Tom off the line as his car rocketed ahead.

"Be careful... This is where he surprises his opponents."

Jason look in the rearview mirror and saw nothing... til he looked next to him and saw Tom's Z34 gaining rapidly.

"Why is his car so slow off the line?"

"The dual overhead cams... After takeoff, his car's computer takes a few extra seconds to decide whether to use the economy cam or the power cam. Tom's learned to drive to compensate for his cars off the line acceleration."

Tom's Z34 was now a few feet ahead of the Impala as the turn came up. Jason braked while Tom didn't.

"Idiot"

"No... watch... I've seen him do this a million times so he doesn't lose momentum"

Jason watched as the rear tires on the Monte Carlo locked up for a second and began to spin again. The momentary loss of traction caused the FWD Chevy's rear end to step out as it drifted around the corner and straightened out before pulling ahead. Jason meanwhile took the turn safely before flooring it to catch up to Tom's rocketing Z34.

Jason was starting to catch but when the train tracks came in to view Jason started to slow down.

"Damn it, how am I going to make that turn and then catch him?"

"Just do what Tom did at the last turn. Speed up and then hit the e-brake and then release it half way into the turn. The back tired will spin and you won't lose any momentum."

Jason followed her instructions just as they reached the train tracks. Tom made the turn with no problem a few seconds ahead of Jason. Jason made the turn just missing the light post.

Speeding after Tom he was starting to catch him. The store at the end of the street came into view. Jason was gaining on Tom. they were only a few feet away from the store and Jason was neck and neck with Tom!

There was one problem... the drawbridge was going up to let a boat through!

Erin heard a momentary pause on Tom's Z34 as the 3.4L DOHC V6 switched to the power cam.

"That's not good..."

"What do you mean?"

"He just switched to the power cam"

"And that means?"

"You just lost."

Jason watched in horror as the Z34's engine picked up a different tone as the front end shot up, the front wheels squealing a little from the sudden power rush.

The two W-body Chevy's climbed the draw bridge and leapt off. The two cars flew through the air and landed harshly with sparks coming out from underneath both cars.

Tom's Z34 crossed the line a few inches behind Jason's Impala before the motor mounts in Tom's Z34 gave out and the engine and transmission dropped to the ground. The black Z34 skidded to a stop. As soon as it stopped, Erin and Jason heard breaking glass. They stopped the Impala and rushed over to Tom's Z34 to see that the force of the skid had forced Tom's head through the driver's side window.

Erin rushed over and felt Tom's pulse while a frantic Katie was trying to wake him up. Erin sighed a breath of relief. "He's still alive... but he needs medical attention ASAP."

No sooner had she said that when the twins were both dialing 911 on their cell phones.